Summer SAVY, Session 3 Day 2, “Mathematicians in History: Patterns, Order, and Relationships” (3rd-4th)

Posted by floresmm on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 in blog, SAVY.

Dear SAVY Families,

We had another exciting, engaging, and challenging day of Mathematicians in History. Today, our focus was on the mathematicians John Napier and Galileo Galilei, two well-known mathematicians who were a part of Europe’s Renaissance. We started the day by reminding ourselves that this math at SAVY is very different from what we learn in our regular school classrooms, and that we must take risks in our thinking and are not afraid to share our mathematical problem-solving. To practice taking a risk, I posed the question: “Is mathematics discovered or invented?” The SAVY mathematicians had to choose a side and defend their point, which is a big risk to take when defending a very philosophical question. I was proud of the mathematicians for their bravery.

John Napier is most well-known for his discovery of Napier’s Rods, which is a visual way to represent multiplication and to be able to multiply large whole numbers. These “first calculators” made multiplication possible for those who were unable to multiply during Napier’s time. We also learned about two different methods of multiplication: Lattice Multiplication and Russian Peasant Multiplication. While many SAVY mathematicians are already skilled multipliers, I was impressed with their willingness to put aside their knowledge of the standard algorithm and computation to recognize different parts of numbers that are being multiplied.

Galileo Galilei is a very well-known scientist, known for his proof of the sun being at the center of our solar system. The mathematicians were curious to learn about Galileo’s contributions to mathematics as well. Galileo theorized about the speed of falling objects, noting that objects pick up speed, or velocity, as they fall, and that heavier items do not fall faster than lighter objects. This was confusing to the mathematicians, but when they learned about the principles of air resistance, it came together for them. The SAVY mathematicians designed their own experiment using two objects of different masses and a balcony, where they were able to show that the objects fell at about the same speed. They had to create their own data table and discuss specific jobs of the experiment with their team. This led to a video and discussion about air resistance and how that affects the speed of falling objects.

To end the day, we returned to our generalizations about relationships. The SAVY mathematicians were quick to make connections between the work of Napier, Galileo, Pythagoras, and Archimedes, while also connecting to the generalizations that are guiding our class.

Questions to ask your mathematicians tonight: